After months of talk about time travel, multiple futures and the Quantum Realm, theories around the upcoming Avengers 4 are starting to get pretty creative and just a little weird. Take this recent Reddit post, for example, which argues that in order to reverse the effects of Thanos’ genocidal snap from Infinity War, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes won’t create a new Infinity Gauntlet, as other are predicting, but they themselves will act as the gauntlet.
This piece of speculation rests on the idea that it’s possible for individuals to become “attuned” to certain Infinity Stones, creating a special bond between a stone and its owner that ensures a person can harness it to its full potential. An example that the Redditor cites is when Thanos sacrifices his own daughter, arguing that this act of commitment established an inherent connection between the Mad Titan and the Soul Stone. With that in mind, the user goes on to suggest that each of the stones could develop a similar spiritual attachment to one of the heroes, and the team will harness the combined power of these stones in much the way that the gauntlet does.
The user then goes through each of the six Infinity Stones to suggests who their rightful owner could be. Bruce Banner, for example, is deemed a natural fit for the Power Stone. Ant-Man, meanwhile, is matched with the Space Stone for his appreciation of the slippery nature of physical space.
Thor, on the other hand, is the user’s unlikely pick for the Mind Stone, completing his journey from a meat-headed warrior in his first movie to a wise leader, whereas Tony Stark and Steve Rogers are assigned to the Reality and Soul Stones, respectively. As for the Time Stone, since Doctor Strange is currently out of action, Carol Danvers is chosen for the role, largely because the lengthy gap between the events of Captain Marvel and Avengers 4 suggest some twisty time shenanigans have taken place.
All in all, this theory seems a little too forced to be exactly what Marvel Studios have in mind for next year’s release, but it’s sure a fun idea that would certainly be one way of bringing together the various character arcs of this film’s enormous cast. We’ll see if Avengers 4 brings us a similar solution to the Mad Titan’s finger-snap when it hits theaters on May 3rd, 2019.